RE: The Evolution of @son-of-satire - Part One
I hope people are going to take part of your inner journey. To question my own life and how I decide to live it, is a valuable and sensible thing to do. What you wrote, touches the lives of many humans.
I believe in a Creator, but I see the need for no middle man in our relationship. However, I do not think the Bible is complete poppycock. I recognize Jesus, Lucifer and Satan as aspects of human consciousness.
Did you try to turn this upside down?
If you drop the creator, leave "God" aside, how then is your existence embedded on this planet?
Isn't it possible that as long you somehow believe in a creator (architect, ruler, force, energy) than it still is connected to a very hidden "Hintergedanke" (thought in the very back of your mind), that someone ELSE might be responsible for the misery/pain you personally feel?
The christian inheritance is very strong, the same counts for me as well. I went for the journey you are on right now, and still am.
In principle the values of Christianity are all true, same with all religions. Why not dropping an outer authority (God = society = government) which should fix things you perceive as dangerous or evil?
The decision you offer to yourself: does it have to be an "either, or"?
How about looking closer at the middle man, which we all could be: you, me and everyone who is interested in finding middle ground. The ideal cannot be "God" in my eyes. A "God" I never can reach or even become like him, for he has been put so high up that I almost get tired even thinking of trying to live up to this standard.
What about taking another figure as an ideal, you can imagine that you maybe can come close to and obtain what he obtained, like you mentioned Jesus. Buddha as well is this figure of hope.
That is to say that I will nurture the purest part of myself, and decide never to betray my own sense of morality again, for no reason, ever, regardless of the consequences
It sounds like a vow to me. I felt during reading it that it might be too much of a task to fulfill that "from now on". Have you tried little steps? Like when you talk about ONE moral/virtue to live a single day without lying to some one?
I would recommend that and see afterwards the effect on you. For my part I realized how difficult indeed it is to fulfill even ONE commandment (virtue as I prefer to say) and follow it consciously through my daily life. Often I hurt a virtue by not being aware that I am doing so.
Unmasking myself is a brave act. But also it should be done with a good amount of wisdom, cause not all people can cope or react in a way that is beyond what they themselves already are up to.
I wish you all the best for your journey. What you are going to need the most is patience with yourself and others.
I see what you're getting at, but I do not see God as an excuse for my misdeeds. I am struggling with many things currently, but an inability to take responsibility for my actions is not one of them.
I understand why it may seem like a pretty intense ultimatum, but I should have made it clearer that this is not the first time I have visited this very choice. Each time I end up going backwards, but this time I would like to go forward. So, believe me when I say it would not be as difficult as you might expect. I am already half way there, and have greatly limited the frequency of my betraying my morals for "necessity."
I find it always works out in the end. I never knew what I was going to do a couple years ago when I quit yet another job because it was forcing me to betray my sense of morality. I didn't know how things would be okay, but I discovered Steemit soon after and have managed to, for the most part, meet all of my outgoing expenses solely through Steemit and through increasing earnings on bittrex before I withdraw them.
Your advice is great, but it is wasted on me. I do this every day anyway, and I do not do it with just one thing. I'm also not underestimating the potential ramifications of such a decision. I am well aware that to adhere to ones own moral code, unwavering, within an immoral society, could quite possibly lead to death or to incarceration. Neither of those things are a cause of distress to me. I'm likely to go to jail eventually for tax evasion anyway, and I've been writing a book in my head for years that I will transcribe when I have time to in my cell. Death isn't a fear of mine either. I'll be happy to get a rest from this chore of an existence. The real consequences will not be my own/ My legitimate fear is that my decision to live how I want to live in spite of my environment will lead to my family living how they do not want to live to ensure that I don't end up in jail or dead. I don't want them to get their hands dirty or sweaty all so that I might be able to keep mine clean. It would be hard to look upon such a decision as admirable or righteous if my making of that decision is removing the option of others in my life to make the same one.
This is the biggest problem with the choice I have asked myself to make, but, while my thoughts on the world ending may be relatively new, this choice has been with me for years, and it is only that my belief that we are moving into a newer, darker age, that has forced me to speed up the process of making that decision.
Thanks a lot for your comment though. It is very clear that it was meant with the best intentions, I just think you are underestimating the necessity for me to make this choice. I expect that more of my mindset will be revealed within the following posts, and perhaps then you will have a better understanding of why I feel that I have only these two choices left available to me.
The people I consider immoral, I don't need to fight against, but I can try to understand them - in that, I will defeat them. The immorality of others may not go away by that, but for me, it makes them bearable and my life more peaceful and bright.
The moral code has existed, I have not known for how many millennia, and I think it is quite right to question your life and to invoke these ethics. I may have seen you as you may have seen me as not understanding/not really getting it. I let go of it. Although I find it difficult, I guess this is one thing that I can learn in this short encounter between the two of us to let you do your journey.
I leave you with this quote, though:
I like you a lot. Also, this quote you have shared is some terrific advice, if only we all lived it.
leave the "if only" alone.
I like you, too.